Ladies, if you love your man, give him cauliflower curry with a side
of kale for dinner. It may stave off prostate cancer, according to research
released yesterday by Rutgers University.
Though they don't often make the favorite menus
of most men, cauliflower and kale -- along with cabbage, broccoli, brussels
sprouts, kohlrabi, watercress and turnips -- contain a chemical that is
a significant cancer-preventive.
But add curry powder to the mix, the researchers
say, and the vegetables and spice are effective in treating established
prostate cancers, the second-leading cause of cancer death in American
men.
It all boils down to a pair of crucial chemicals
that "hold real potential for the treatment and prevention of prostate
cancer," the Rutgers study stated. The vegetables contain phenethyl isothiocyanate,
or PEITC, while the curry contains curcumin, a yellow pigment found in
the spice itself.
Both are considered phytochemicals -- nonnutritive
substances in plants that have protective, antioxidant or anti-disease
qualities.
"The bottom line is that PEITC and curcumin, alone
or in combination, demonstrate significant cancer-preventive qualities
in lab mice, and the combination of PEITC and curcumin could be effective
in treating established prostate cancers," said Ah-Ng Tony Kong, the study's
lead author and a professor of pharmaceutics at Rutgers.
Though a half-million new cases of prostate cancer
occur in the U.S. annually, incidence and death rates have not lessened
despite decades of research for treatments or a cure. Advanced cases of
prostate cancer cells are "barely responsive" to rigorous chemotherapy
or radiation treatment, Mr. Kong said.
He was inspired to investigate diet as a supplementary
therapy after noting that while prostate cancer is common in the U.S.,
the disease is rare in India, where plant-based diets and curry are the
norm.
Curry itself has prompted other significant findings.
Last year alone, the University of Texas found it inhibited the growth
of both skin cancer and breast cancer cells, while the University of California
at Los Angeles found it stopped the spread of harmful brain plaque in patients
with Alzheimer's disease.
Mr. Kong had previously found convincing evidence,
he said, that the two chemical compounds quelled prostate cancer cells
grown in the laboratory. He has since tested his theory on mice injected
with the cancer cells. Three times a week for a month, the test mice then
received injections of PEITC and curcumin.
Separately, the compounds "significantly retarded
the growth of cancerous tumors," Mr. Kong noted. "Using PEITC and curcumin
in tandem produced even stronger effects." The research team also evaluated
therapeutic potential of the compounds in mice with advanced prostate cancer
to find they "significantly reduced tumor growth."
The study was published by Cancer Research, a journal
of the Philadelphia-based American Association for Cancer Research.